MAPPING INNOVATION: REGIONAL DIMENSIONS OF INNOVATION AND NETWORKING IN THE NETHERLANDS1

The paper addresses spatial patterns of innovation and partnership in innovation processes in the Netherlands, building on the Netherlands’ part of the Community Innovation Survey, conducted by Statistics Netherlands. Innovation is analysed from a system perspective, addressing both input factors (education levels of human resources and R&D), throughput factors (partnership with regionally, nationally and internationally based partners) and output factors (results in terms of the launching of new products on the market and/or the implementation of new processes in production). Our descriptive analyses at detailed spatial levels (four-digit postal code areas) provide indications that the relation between input factors and results of innovation processes is highly differentiated across regions. Furthermore, international connectivity seems to be strongly connected to the results of innovation processes, whereas the relation between regional clustering and innovative output appears rather weak.